Under the Pale Moonlight
by Roste
Summary: Team RWBY attempts to get some rest after a brutal assault on Beacon Academy. But not everyone is able to rest so easily in the wake of war. Monochrome one shot.


Blake's Faunus ears twitched as she heard the faint creak of a door and the snap of the lock as it moved back into place. Years of being on the run had made her a light sleeper, and while living at Beacon had dulled her reflexes to the point in which her companion's faint shifts in the night no longer woke her with a sudden flood of adrenaline. She was still highly attuned to the more provocative and deadly sounds such as a door opening at…she opened a bleary eye to glance at her scroll on the nightstand. One in the morning, fantastic. Despite the ungodly hour, none of her other senses were screaming at her that a murderer had snuck into their dorm room. With a soft sigh Blake opened her other eye to glance across the way to her team mates bunks. She didn't bother looking up at Ruby as the tiny ball of energy was blissfully snoring away in her bunk. It had taken her a month before she could successfully drown out the sound of the younger sister and get a decent night's sleep.

Weiss had been slightly more proactive in her methods to silence the younger girl and had attempted several increasingly outlandish treatments before she had thrown her hands up and called Ruby broken. To her credit, the younger girl had taken each suggestion that was in actuality a demand from the heiress with good humor. Each night the girl had been forced to move into a different sleeping position. Her pillows had been swapped out for a special Schnee brand that was guaranteed to stop snoring. Her father had supposedly gotten a strongly worded letter from the girl when the pillow had in fact not lived up to its claims. The heiress had even used her semblance to create a makeshift humidifier with Yang's enthusiastic help until the older girl had found out the resulting humidity was affecting her hair. As hopeful as Blake had been that one of her solutions would work, she had stopped the experimentation when Weiss had given her partner a bottle full of questionable substance. When questioned about the origins of said substance, Weiss had skillfully avoided the question and the bottle disappeared.

She felt the corners of her lips turn up at the memory as she scanned for the lump that signified the heiress's presence amongst the white sheets that blended with her hair. The half smile disappeared when her keen eyes spotted that the sheets were peeled back carefully. None of the girls typically left the confines of their beds once they had turned in. Reasoning that the white haired girl had probably just gotten up for a glass of water she snuggled back into her sheets. As the minutes passed however, the restroom door remained closed and the raven haired girl grew worried. She gave it another two agonizingly long minutes before slipping out of the bed, making sure to tie her Yukata tight as she stood up silently. She shuffled over the cold floor to the restroom door and pressed one of her sensitive Faunus ears against it. However the only sound that greeter her was the faint hissing of pipes as some night owl from the upper floor used the water. Frowning, she looked to the main door pensively and back to Weiss's bed. The younger girl's scroll was conspicuously missing as each of their scrolls provided the only motes of light in the room at night. Its absence was both slightly worrying and relieving.

On one hand, it most likely meant that the girl had her scroll on her. On the other hand, it signified that she wasn't coming back anytime soon. She briefly contemplated texting to make sure she was alright, but she knew that one way or another she wouldn't get back to sleep until she had seen the girl face to face. With a longing glance at her bed, she silently slipped on her combat outfit after briefly weighing the pros and cons of potentially leaving the safety of the school without her weapons. Grabbing her scroll and Gambol Shroud, she exited the dorms in silence after firing off a quick text to Weiss. She looked down both identical hallways indecisively. While her eyesight and hearing were her two biggest advantages as a Faunus, she did possess an average sense of smell for her kind which was still magnitudes above that of a human. While each of her team mates and that of JNPR's across the hall unique scents permeated the hall, she was able to isolate the slightly stronger scent of lavender that was not quite as stale as that of the rest. She turned left to follow the scent down the winding halls of Beacon. While it was not precisely against the rules to be out in the halls after dark, it still felt strangely silent with only her own light footsteps to accompany her. She almost jumped as her scroll buzzed with an incoming message as she turned a corner. With a practiced movement she opened her scroll to read the short message.

"I went for a walk. Go back to bed Blake, I'll be back soon."

While she desperately wanted to take the advice and go back to sleep before she lost any more rest, the larger part of her was worried and curious. The fact that she was already dressed and moving ultimately swayed her decision to continue forward. She stopped as she exited the building. The scent she had been following had already blown away with the breeze, but it proved unnecessary as she spotted a head of white hair against the backdrop of the clear night sky. She walked towards her teammate, making sure she was easy to hear as she approached. While Weiss didn't normally startle easily, she was well aware that being sneaked up in the middle of the night would not be fun for anyone involved. Weiss didn't turn her head from her seated position on the bench and barely stirred as Blake took a seat next to her.

Without looking away from the stars, Weiss sighed. "I knew you wouldn't listen." She said tiredly.

"Was I supposed to?" The Faunus questioned as she turned her own head to the stars. Vale rarely had clear nights such as these this close to the city. The weather combined with the thin veil of smog that the industry of the city produced did not engender the breathtakingly clear skies she has grown used to seeing as a member of White Fang in the wilds or on the rare multiple day field incursion as a huntress.

"I wouldn't have said it if I hadn't meant it." She replied. There was no rancor in her voice as she said it though.

"Your honesty has always been one of your best qualities." Blake said diplomatically.

Despite herself Weiss smirked up at the sky. "Even when it leads me to calling you a flea bitten animal with no redeeming qualities save your ability to block a bullet?"

The Faunus laughed softly at the retort. "Yes even then Weiss. I may have hated you for it, but never doubt that I didn't appreciate that you were at least willing to be honest with me even when it became apparent that I was on the verge of throttling you. Not many people have that kind of conviction, even if it was a bit misguided."

"Misguided is putting it lightly."

Blake rolled her eyes at the heiress who seemed determined to be self depreciating and moody. "Severely misguided then, but through no fault of your own. We all have our reasons for believing what we do, good or bad. And you had more reason then most to hate our kind."

She nodded, but her words contradicted the motion. "That doesn't make it right."

"No, but at least you made an effort to fix it. More than an effort, you did it and you are making an effort to fix things beyond yourself." Blake shook her head and looked at the heiress that had not taken her eyes off the stars. "But that's not why you are out here is it?" She questioned softly as she tentatively brushed her hands against the girls milky white skin.

The contact finally seemed to break the reverie the smaller girl was in. The girls ice blue eyes came down from the night sky to look at the offending appendage, but made no effort to move her hand away.

"No." She admitted.

The pair sat companionably in the silence. Weiss continuing to mull over whatever had brought her out of Beacon, while Blake enjoyed the opportunity to revel in the near silence that was so often absent from her daily life. Blake turned her head to look at the smaller girl who continued to stare down at their hands. It was a rare opportunity to observe the girl who had often shown an unnatural sense for when people were looking at her. A holdover the girl had explained from her training and experience dealing with high society. While Blake prided herself on her observational abilities in the field, the smaller girl had often proven that the ability to read her enemies was just as valuable as being able to read the battlefield.

Her amber eyes softened as she traced the outline of Weiss's pale features in the dim light provided by the dust lanterns spread across the courtyard. The normally hard lines of her face that were pressed into a scowl were soft and gentle. Her features unguarded as she allowed herself to relax in the presence of one she trusted. Her hair was loose and silky, soft brushed hair tamer than Yang's wild mane. The combination showed a side of Weiss that she was sure very few were allowed to see, an honor that she was not taking lightly. Much like herself, Weiss had very few people that she could trust growing up. She had not come right out and said it, but Blake had taken the time to process the few instances in which the girl had brought up her life in Atlas and it had not painted a happy picture. Her normal demeanor was enough to confirm this theory. Outward hostility with an almost pathological need to show her superiority to everyone around her, but yearning for any hint of approval she could get from those she cared about. Oh she hid it behind snarky comments and a haughty attitude, but she had caught the small smiles the girl had displayed when her team mates complimented her, even when they came from Yang.

Caught in her own reverie she almost jumped when she felt Weiss's hand slide over her own to hesitantly thread her fingers between hers. She felt her breath catch at the small action. For another person it might have been a show of solidarity, of friendship between two friends. But for Weiss to do it, it was an act of trust, an act of…she was so caught up in analyzing the action that she had failed to recognize the blazing blue eyes of her team mate that were now trained on her.

"Weiss," she whispered. "What?"

Weiss seemed to shiver at the sound of her name before she set her shoulders rigidly and clasped her teammates hand more tightly. "Do you want to know why I couldn't sleep?" She asked the Faunus.

Blake could only nod dumbly at her teammate, too entranced by the feeling of her hand in hers and the cool gaze that locked on to her own amber pools.

"I couldn't sleep because I could not stop thinking about what happened yesterday. We could have lost everything. Beacon, vale, teachers, friends, team mates. And yet the entire time I was fighting, with every motion of Myrtenaster, and every dust spell. Knee deep in the blood of Grim and human alike, I could only think of one thing." Weiss took a breath as she felt tears pushing at the edge of her eyes. "And when I saw that fucking piece of filth standing over you. Taurus." She spit out angrily. "I felt…I felt…"

Blake instinctively wrapped her arms around the girl who leaned into her eagerly. Her small frame trembling as she tried to force the words out of her throat.

"If Yang hadn't appeared when she had."

Blake's arms tightened around the girl for herself as much as for the other girl. The memories were still fresh and raw. "I couldn't…I can't lose you Blake. When I saw him about to stab you with that blade I felt my world shatter. The entire time we were fighting for our very lives I could not stop thinking about you. Every little moment, every action, every conversation, every look you gave me when you though I wasn't looking. The thought that I would never get to see any of it again. I just couldn't Blake. I would have given everything in that moment to take your place."

"Don't ever say something like that again Weiss." Blake all but growled even as she felt her own tears leak out into Weiss's silver hair. She felt the girl tense in her arm and attempt to pull away which only made her grip tighten further. You were the only thing that allowed me to fight. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run, I have always run when things got to difficult. Always." She finished bitterly. "But every time my body urged me to take the easy way out I thought of you. That every threat I managed to take out would increase the chance of your survival. And for that I was willing to give up everything, for that I was willing to fight. Even as Adam stood over me, the only thing in my mind was you. You and the regret that I never got to tell you…to let you know that I…I…" Blake struggled, but she could not force the words out her throat, words that threatened to strangle her.

"That I love you." Weiss whispered into Blake's outfit.

Even with her sharp hearing, Blake almost didn't hear the words. As it was, she was convinced that she was hearing things. "Weiss, did you just?" She couldn't finish the sentence.

When Weiss's head finally pulled up, her face streaked with tears and trembling Blake swore that she had never seen a more beautiful sight. For in her eyes she finally saw something that she had never dared dream of.

"I love you Blake." She said without hesitation as she locked her gaze with the Faunus. "I think I have for a long time."

For Blake, time seemed to stop for a single moment, similar to the feeling she had when Weiss used her semblance on her. One moment to capture everything. The fire in Weiss's eyes, the conviction set in her shoulders, each and every streak that covered her face. And despite everything she could not recall a moment in her life that seemed more perfect than this one.

As fast as it came, the moment passed as she continued to look into the girl's eyes. She couldn't think, she couldn't speak, so she did the only thing she could to convey her feelings before something happened to take this moment away from her. She pressed her lips to Weiss, carefully, tenderly, trying to convey everything that her words had so far failed to produce. It was short and sweet, Blake not wanting to overload Weiss who had never taken to physical contact, much less surprise physical contact very well. She pulled back with some trepidation, not knowing how her actions would be perceived.

Weiss however had only brought up her free hand to her lips wonderingly. Reveling in the rush that had gone to her head the moment their lips touched.

"I love you too Weiss. I think I have ever since the first day I laid eyes on you."

The smile that Weiss gave her at that moment was more brilliant than any she had seen from the girl so far. It was genuine, not that any of those she had shared with her team mates hadn't been. But for the first time Blake was allowed to see the girl for who she truly was, unguarded, with nothing more to hide, and it was beautiful. An image see would treasure until the day she died. A treasure she would do her utmost to see again.

As the pair leaned in again to touch their lips together, another pair in the shadows couldn't help but smile. "I told you it was worth getting up Yang."

"Yeah Rubes, I never thought I would admit it. But they look good together. Come on let's give the love birds some space before Blake gets out of her stupor and realizes we've been spying on them.

With a flash of rose petals, the sisters were gone, leaving their team mates behind in the glow of Remnants broken moon. Black and white, together both on land and in the stars.


End file.
